Lift for looks vs. performance

I've been on this forum all day and am impressed at all the useful information! I found some explanations to the thunk/clunk on my 2002 (my original purpose for coming here), which led me in deciding to proceed with my planned lift. My goal is to get a 3" lift with larger wheels and tires. It's my main ride, so I've got to keep it manageable, but I want a performance improvement for the mountains. I'm fairly good with tools, but have to admit, I would be dabbling in unfamiliar territory if I did this myself.

So...

Are 'body lifts' considered a spacer block in the back and/or front?

If I'm adjusting, or adding a leaf-helper, to my leaf springs, I'm I just wasting money if I plan on doing some sort of lift in the near future?

 

More than anything, can someone describe what the difference is between a lift for looks and a lift for performance? Thanks in advance.

 

There are two different types of *lifts*

Body lifts & suspension lifts.

Body lifts use small pucks to lift the entire body up higher off the frame. These lifts are only for tire clearance and don't offer any performance gains.

Suspension lifts replace and/or change suspension components which allow for tire clearance, but also change the performance of the suspension (ride quality, handling, etc).

Depending on the type of 'helper springs' you buy - you may (or may not) be able to use them with lift springs.

What type of *performance gains* are you looking for (in the mountains)??
Do you want bigger tires?
Do you want traction aide?
Or....?

 

I found another great link to explain the different types of lifts and the pros/cons with them. With that, I can better understand what these forums are talking about. Thanks for the reply. I'll ask again once I get a proposed system set up.

 

if you are looking for a great 3" lift, that wil give you performance and feel great on the road look into the icon coil overs, or camburg, kings etc. i have a leaf pack from all pro , that rides really nice, i also have a progressive 3 leaf pack that i purchased that gives you a 1.5" lift to level out the 2.5" of lift that you would get with coilovers, im actually selling the progressive leafs since i bought all pro, progressive are great leafs, and cheap let me know if you are interested.

 

if you value your truck, put some value into your truck...

save yourself some headache later and just drop the money to do it right from the start...

for the 01-04 model tacos, look into doing higher end coilovers with a full 8 leaf pack in rear...

it will cost you some serious change, but there are some good shortcuts that will make it financially easier without compromising cost...

if serious about it, hit me up in PMs and i will drop you some knowledge...

 

Yes, yes! I'm leaning toward exactly what mikesdoublecab said. Coilovers in the front and new leaf pack in the back. I haven't ruled out getting the coilovers and long AAL in back, but with 75k on the existing leafs, my gut tells me not to do the AAL. Anyone else think otherwise?

By the way, for anyone responding, I'm looking at a lift of no more than 3". What would the combo of coilovers and leaf springs be to achieve that? (In terms of leveling out) Thanks for the responses!